The National Baseball Hall of Fame was established in 1939, in Cooperstown, New York as a way of preserving the history of the game. The first class of Hall of Famers were inducted in 1936, and the first ceremony was held in Cooperstown in 1939, and all living members were invited. Since 1936, the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) has voted for new inductees annually.
There has been some skepticism that the Hall of Fame is losing its elite status, and inducting underserving members. Some fans view the title of ‘Hall of Famer’ reserved for the most dominant players of all time and held the status of a top player in the game for long time. The average slashline of a Hall of Fame batter is .303/.377/.468.
Not all players are inducted based exclusively on their ability to perform, many are inducted in by the Veterans Committee, who reevaluate players who are no longer eligible for induction by the BBWAA. The Veterans Committee will often induct players who made an impact on the game both on and off the field, loved by their fans & teammates, and represented the game of baseball. The most noticeable impact on the Veterans Committee’s vote in terms of performance of Hall of Famers can be seen in 1994, when Phil Rizzuto was inducted. Rizzuto retired in 1956, but never received enough votes from the BBWAA to make the Hall of Fame. In 1993, Reggie Jackson was voted in by the BBWAA and in 1995, Mike Schmidt was voted in as well. These 2 players had exceptionally better careers on the field compared to Rizzuto, but all share the status of ‘Hall of Famer’.
That qualifications of what make a player a Hall of Famer are up to interpretation but the BBWAA take into consideration the following when voting; the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played. Often fans place an emphasis on longevity and aggregate numbers, most notably milestone numbers like 500 HR or 3000 hits.
There are 33 players to reach 3000 hits and only 7 are not in the Hall of Fame (5 not yet eligible, 1 for allegations of steroid usage, and 1 for betting on baseball. There are 28 players to hit 500 home runs and only 9 are not in the Hall of Fame (3 not yet eligible, and 6 for allegations of steroid usage).
Notably Barry Bonds & Pete Rose have been excluded from the Hall of Fame, they are the all time leaders in home runs and hits, respectively. Barry Bonds has been excluded for steroid allegations and Pete Rose has been excluded for gambling on baseball games. Both are now eligible to be voted in by the Veterans Committee, and they’ll have a difficult decision to make: given the objective is to preserve the history of our game, how can one exclude the all time leaders in two of the most coveted offensive categories?
Metrics like batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage seem consistent year over year, but the average WAR of a Hall of Famer is 67.0. WAR provides a view into how much better these players were during the time they played. It appears that since 2007 the average inductee to the Hall of Fame has just been about average or below in terms of career WAR. Notably in 2019, Harold Baines was voted in, and although he has a .289/.356/.465 slashline with 384 home runs and 2,866 hits over 22 seasons, his career WAR was 38.8. Was he a great player or did he just play a long time and aggregate stats?
On the other side of the game, pitchers have their own set of stats which both the BBWAA and fans evaluate to determine if a player is Hall of Fame material. Mariano Rivera is the only player to ever be unanimously inducted with his all time high 652 career saves.
There are only 87 pitchers in the Hall of Fame and it is quite difficult to compare them across eras, since the game has change so much over time. There are also different qualifications for starting pitchers and relief pitchers. There have been 19 pitchers to strikeout 3,000 batters and 14 of them are in the Hall of Fame (3 not yet eligible, & 1 with steroid allegations against them). Additionally there are 24 pitchers to win 300 games in their career; 23 are in the Hall of Fame.
The pitcher excluded on both lists for 3,000 strikeouts and 300 wins is Roger Clemens. Clemens is a 7x Cy Young Award winner, 2x World Series Champion, and 1x MVP. Similar to Bonds & Rose, the Hall of Fame is missing one of the most significant players in the history of the game without admitting Clemens.
The average WAR of a Hall of Fame Pitcher is 66.0, extraordinary close to that of a Hall of Fame position player. There is a lot more variance in pitchers being inducted and the average WAR is boosted by a group of elite pitchers, many of the ones who have 3,000 strikeouts and 300 wins. There are 9 Hall of Fame pitchers with a career WAR greater than 100 with Cy Young leading the group with a 165.6 WAR.
There are two particular cases to highlight for Hall of Fame pitchers. Generally, longevity and dominance are the two factors that matter the most when the BBWAA vote for the pitchers, Sandy Koufax and Jack Morris seem to be clear exceptions when it comes to that criteria.
Koufax only played 12 seasons in the MLB and was among the most dominant pitchers the game has ever seen for 6 of them. In those 6 seasons Koufax had 115 complete games in 211 starts striking out an average of 286 batters a season with a 2.19 ERA. On opposite end of the spectrum, Jack Morris played 18 seasons in the MLB, never winning a Cy Young Award or ERA title. He did make 527 starts and pitch 175 complete games, but did so with a career 3.90 ERA and 105 ERA+, the highest ERA of any pitcher in the Hall of Fame. Morris struck out 2,478 batters in his career, but was not necessarily dominant in any of them.
The Hall of Fame is always a topic of discussion for fans, and everyone has their own criteria for what makes a true Hall of Famer. There are currently 342 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and we can each decide if they belong in the Hall of Fame, Very Good, or Undeserving.
Below I’ve shared my ballot (if I had one) for the 2024 induction. Carlos Beltran, Adrian Beltre, and Billy Wagner should be in without argument. Todd Helton & Andruw Jones were both dominant during their playing time, Helton gets discredit for playing his entire career in hitter friendly ballpark, but has a career 133 OPS+ which is adjusted for home ballpark. Andruw Jones has a career 111 OPS+ but accumulated 434 HR in his career in addition to 10 Gold Glove Awards solidifying himself as one of the best defenders ever.
Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, & Gary Sheffield all have allegations of steroid usage against them, but it would be wrong to not acknowledge their contributions to the game of baseball. They have accumulated several awards, world championships, and incredible offensive seasons. Whether it is deemed as cheating or not, these events still happened and should not be ignored. Its part of the history of our game.
Hayes Craze Baseball 
